The modern world is ever-changing with each new innovation; with every step forward, society must be able to progress and adapt to change. Jared Diamond’s argumentative piece titled “Accepting or Rejecting Innovation” states that there are three criterias that technologies must meet, in order to be to be adopted and utilized in modern society. The factors include: economic benefit, social value, and minimal vested interest. When discussing in terms of technologies, a device provides an economic benefit to its user, which leads to greater efficiency or reduce cost. The most important variable stated by Diamond, which often includes the prestige of an item and its reputation as a status symbol, is the innovation’s social value. One of the more
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However, to sway the public, the benefit must outweigh the cons. The economic benefit in technologies, can be best described as the advantages gained from usage.. In order for an innovation to be successfully adopted, Diamond argues that it must have an economic benefit. In one example, he compares the wheels between Native American and European culture, and how the importance of the wheel can shift dramatically between the two societies, due to the varying access to domesticated labor animals. He explained that unlike European society, Native American society was built without the reliance on labor animals, thus the wheel was not necessary for the transport of goods. This reduced the wheel’s usage to a toy because it was unable to be implemented for trade and agriculture. A modern example of the influence economic benefit has towards the rate of adopting new technologies is the cotton gin, a hand-cranked machine that separates cotton fibers and seeds. Invented by Eli Whitney in U.S during 1791, it revolutionized the processing of cotton in the southern cotton industry. The raw cotton was laden with seeds, which must be removed by hand. This labor-intensive process demanded more expensive slaves to process the cotton for efficiently. With the invention of the cotton gin, the process became automated and efficient. Instead of ten laborers, the job was reduced one slave. This offered a huge economic …show more content…
Economic advantage is the crucial factor for inventions as it allows the user greater efficiency and advantage over competitors. The cotton gin, a machine that was able to separate cotton seeds from the fibers boosted economic benefit, by increasing productivity and lessening cost. The social value of the invention allows the user to gain social standing and increase their class, creating a demand for the new invention. Tesla, a luxury sport car company branded themselves to create a real demand for electric vehicles. Vested interest is investment of time and energy and company investment can help boost adoption. It can also impede innovations, as shown with landline phones. I agree with the author as the iPhone proves all of these factors and was innovative. With the rapid rate of development, I am positive there are amazing things in store in the
However, to sway the public, the benefit must outweigh the cons. The economic benefit in technologies, can be best described as the advantages gained from usage.. In order for an innovation to be successfully adopted, Diamond argues that it must have an economic benefit. In one example, he compares the wheels between Native American and European culture, and how the importance of the wheel can shift dramatically between the two societies, due to the varying access to domesticated labor animals. He explained that unlike European society, Native American society was built without the reliance on labor animals, thus the wheel was not necessary for the transport of goods. This reduced the wheel’s usage to a toy because it was unable to be implemented for trade and agriculture. A modern example of the influence economic benefit has towards the rate of adopting new technologies is the cotton gin, a hand-cranked machine that separates cotton fibers and seeds. Invented by Eli Whitney in U.S during 1791, it revolutionized the processing of cotton in the southern cotton industry. The raw cotton was laden with seeds, which must be removed by hand. This labor-intensive process demanded more expensive slaves to process the cotton for efficiently. With the invention of the cotton gin, the process became automated and efficient. Instead of ten laborers, the job was reduced one slave. This offered a huge economic …show more content…
Economic advantage is the crucial factor for inventions as it allows the user greater efficiency and advantage over competitors. The cotton gin, a machine that was able to separate cotton seeds from the fibers boosted economic benefit, by increasing productivity and lessening cost. The social value of the invention allows the user to gain social standing and increase their class, creating a demand for the new invention. Tesla, a luxury sport car company branded themselves to create a real demand for electric vehicles. Vested interest is investment of time and energy and company investment can help boost adoption. It can also impede innovations, as shown with landline phones. I agree with the author as the iPhone proves all of these factors and was innovative. With the rapid rate of development, I am positive there are amazing things in store in the